Q: Scott, has anyone -- has the President tried to find out who outed the CIA
agent? And has he fired anyone in the White House yet?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Helen, that's assuming a lot of things. First of all,
that is not the way this White House operates. The President expects everyone in
his administration to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. No one would
be authorized to do such a thing. Secondly, there -- I've seen the anonymous
media reports, and if I could find out who "anonymous" was, it would make my
life a whole lot easier. But --

Q: Does he think it didn't come from here?

MR. McCLELLAN: But we've made it very clear that anyone -- anyone -- who has
information relating to this should report that information to the Department of
Justice.

Q: Does he doubt it came from the White House?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q: Does he doubt?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there's been no information that has been brought to our
attention, beyond what we've seen in the media reports, to suggest White House
involvement.

Q: Will the President move aggressively to see if such a transgression has
occurred in the White House? Will he ask top White House officials to sign
statements saying that they did not give the information?

MR. McCLELLAN: Bill, if someone leaked classified information of this nature,
the appropriate agency to look into it would be the Department of Justice. So
the Department of Justice is the one that would look in matters like this.

Q: You're saying the White House won't take a proactive role?

MR. McCLELLAN: Do you have any specific information to bring to my attention
suggesting White House involvement?

Q: If you would --

MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't seen any.

Q: Would you not want to know whether someone had leaked information of this
kind?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President has been -- I spoke for him earlier today -- the
President believes leaking classified information is a very serious matter. And
it should be --

Q: So why doesn't he want --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- pursued to the fullest extent --

Q: Right, so why --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- by the appropriate agency. And the appropriate agency is
the Department of Justice.

Q: Why wouldn't he proactively do that, ask people on the staff to say that
they had not leaked anything?

MR. McCLELLAN: Do you have specific information to suggest White House
involvement? I saw a media report that said "senior administration officials."
That's an anonymous source that could include a lot of people. I've seen a lot
of "senior administration officials" in media stories.

Q: Would they know -- to the White House?

Q: Scott, when you say that it should be pursued by the Justice Department --
Justice has not said whether it actually is conducting an investigation. Does
the President want the Justice Department to investigate this matter?

MR. McCLELLAN: If someone leaked classified information of the nature that
has been reported, absolutely, the President would want it to be looked into.
And the Justice Department would be the appropriate agency to do so.

Q: And do you know that they are doing this?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's a question you need to ask the Department of Justice.
My understanding is that if something like this happened and it was referred to
the Department of Justice, then the Department of Justice would look to see
whether or not there is enough information to pursue it further. But those are
questions you need to ask the Department of Justice.

Q: But, Scott, something like this did happen, right? Bob Novak had
information he should not have had, that he was not authorized to have. So
something --

MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, all I can tell you is what I've seen in the media
reports. And I've seen different statements in the media reports from, the CIA
hasn't confirmed or denied that this was a covert agent for the CIA; I've seen
media reports to suggest that it was referred to the Department of Justice, and
that -- and comments the Department of Justice would look into it.

Q: So the President of the United States doesn't know whether or not this
classified information was divulged, and he is only getting his information by
reading the media?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q: He does not know whether or not the classified information was divulged
here, and he's only getting his information from the media?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, we don't know -- we don't have any information that's been
brought to our attention beyond what we've seen in the media reports. I've made
that clear.

Q: All right. Let me just follow up. You said this morning, "The President
knows" that Karl Rove wasn't involved. How does he know that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I've made it very clear that it was a ridiculous
suggestion in the first place. I saw some comments this morning from the person
who made that suggestion, backing away from that. And I said it is simply not
true. So, I mean, it's public knowledge. I've said that it's not true. And I
have spoken with Karl Rove --

Q: But how does --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not going to get into conversations that the President has
with advisors or staff or anything of that nature; that's not my practice.

Q: But the President has a factual basis for knowing that Karl Rove --

MR. McCLELLAN: I said it publicly. I said that --

Q: But I'm not asking what you said, I'm asking if the President has a factual
basis for saying -- for your statement that he knows Karl Rove --

MR. McCLELLAN: He's aware of what I've said, that there is simply no truth to
that suggestion. And I have spoken with Karl about it.

Q: Does he know whether or not the Vice President's Chief of Staff, Lewis
Libby --

MR. McCLELLAN: If you have any specific information to bring to my attention
-- like I said, there has been nothing that's been brought to our attention. You
asked me earlier if we were looking into it, there is nothing that's been
brought to our attention beyond the media reports. But if someone did something
like this, it needs to be looked at by the Department of Justice, they're the
appropriate agency charged with looking into matters like this --

Q: Well, you do know that they are looking at it, don't you?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- and so they're the ones that should do that.

Q: They're telling reporters that they're looking at it; haven't they told you
that they're looking at it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there you have it. There you have it.

Q: Haven't they told you? Haven't you asked?

MR. McCLELLAN: We've seen the media reports. There has been no requests made
of us at this time.

Q: But, Scott, it gets to the question if you know, if the President knows
that Karl Rove was not involved, then maybe you can tell us more about what the
President specifically is doing to get to the bottom of this, or what has he
ordered to be done within the White House to get to the bottom of this?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President wants anyone, anyone who has information
relating to this to report that information to the appropriate agency, the
Department of Justice. That's what the President wants, and I've been very clear
about that.

Q: Is the President convinced that there was no White House involvement in
this?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, if I could get "anonymous" to 'fess up, that would make
my life a whole lot easier.

Q: That's not the question. That's not the question.

MR. McCLELLAN: But there has been nothing -- there has been absolutely --

Q: Does the President --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm answering that.

Q: Scott, does he know -- is he convinced that no one in the White House was
involved with this?

MR. McCLELLAN: There has been absolutely nothing brought to our attention to
suggest any White House involvement. All we've seen is what is in the media
reports. The media reports cite "senior administration official," or "senior
administration officials."

Q: But they're wrong, as far as you're concerned?

MR. McCLELLAN: But I haven't seen anything before that. That's why it's
appropriate for the Department of Justice, if something like this happened, to
look into it.

Q: Those media reports are wrong, as far as the White House is concerned?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we have nothing beyond those media reports to suggest
there is White House involvement.

MR. McCLELLAN: He's making it clear that this is a serious -- through his
spokesman, me -- that this is a serious matter, and if someone did this, it
should be looked into and it should be pursued to the fullest extent.

Q: But has he ordered an investigation inside the White House? If he thinks
it's that serious, wouldn't you do that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Do you have specific information, Helen, to bring to my
attention?

Q: No. Are you --

MR. McCLELLAN: If you have specific information, bring it to my attention.

Q: Scott, you are answering questions out there for a few days on media
reports. I just wonder, isn't there an internal investigation going on to find
out what's happened?

MR. McCLELLAN: The Justice Department would be the appropriate agency to look
into this. And if something like this happened, the President believes it should
be pursued to the fullest extent.

Q: Why wouldn't this be the --

Q: Can I follow --

MR. McCLELLAN: Ed. I'll come back to you in a minute.

Q: Scott, this is clearly a serious matter, with possible penalties being
going to jail. It's not going to go away. Why -- and as you said earlier, there
probably is a limited number of people with access to this information. It
doesn't take much for the President to ask for a senior official working for him
to just lay the question out for a few people, and end this controversy today.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, Ed, do you have specific information to bring to
our attention?

Q: No. But it's not --

MR. McCLELLAN: But are we supposed to chase down --

Q: -- for me a big story --

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me finish. Are we supposed to chase down every anonymous
report in the newspaper? We'd spend all our time doing that. That's what -- I
think you need to --

Q: The anonymous reports, though, allege criminal activity.

MR. McCLELLAN: You need to keep in mind that there has been no specific
information, there has been no information that has come to our attention to
suggest White House involvement, beyond what has been reported in the
newspapers.

Q: The implication you're leaving us with, I'm afraid, is that nothing is
being done here at the White House to even look into this matter --

MR. McCLELLAN: Wait a second, I made it very clear that if something like
this happened, the President believes the Department of Justice should look into
it and pursue it to the fullest extent. Leaking classified information,
particularly of this nature, is a very serious matter.

Q: Do you see any need to appoint a special counsel for this case, as some
Democrats are demanding?

MR. McCLELLAN: At this point, I think the Department of Justice would be the
appropriate one to look into a matter like this.

Q: Can I follow up on that? Does that mean that you would say to the Attorney
General, whose responsibility it is to determine whether a special or outside
counsel is necessary, that you believe it is not necessary at this point?

MR. McCLELLAN: There are a lot of career professionals at the Department of
Justice that address matters like this. I have made it clear that they're the
ones, that if something like this happened, should look into it. You need to
direct that question to the Department of Justice. It would be a Justice
Department matter; it wouldn't be our place to get involved in that.

Q: But wouldn't you like to see all questions about the independence of any
investigation taken care of by putting it in the hands of somebody who has no
formal statements out there?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, but I think we're assuming certain things have happened.
That's why I said you need to direct a question like that to the Department of
Justice, to find out what has happened here, or to get a response to that.

Q: Well, clearly, there is, at least on a preliminary basis, an investigation
going forward.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, keep in mind what I said earlier, that it's my
understanding that in a situation like this, that if information was forwarded
to the Department of Justice, the first step would be to look at it to determine
whether or not it warrants looking into further. So that's where -- that's what
I understand the process is on something like this.

Q: Scott, what do you say to people out there who are watching this, perhaps,
and saying, you know, I voted for George Bush because he promised to change the
way things work in Washington. And, yet, his spokesman --

MR. McCLELLAN: And he has.

Q: -- and, yet, his spokesman is saying that there's no internal, even,
questioning of whether or not people were involved in this and he's just letting
that be handled at the Justice Department, and letting it be more of a criminal
investigation, as opposed to almost an ethical --

MR. McCLELLAN: Dana, I mean, think about what you're asking. If you have
specific information to bring to our attention --

Q: No, but you say that --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- that suggests White House involvement. There are anonymous
reports all the time in the media. The President has set high standards, the
highest of standards for people in his administration. He's made it very clear
to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest
standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they
would no longer be in this administration.

Q: Scott, the Independent Counsel Act, as you know, is no more. Prior to that
act, what would normally be done in an instance like this, I believe, would be
-- as you say, if there's enough evidence that warrants it, the Attorney General
would appoint a special prosecutor. Do you think that --

MR. McCLELLAN: You need to talk to the Department of Justice about what they
do, or what their intentions are.

Q: And, also, the Executive Office the President is the only agency or entity
in the federal government that does not have an inspector general's office to do
its own internal investigations. Do you think, because of what is allegedly
arising here today, the White House should revisit the idea of establishing an
office of inspector general within the White House?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, I mean, you know, you're assuming that certain
things happened within the White House, so I'm not going to get into that kind
of speculation in the current environment that we're asking that question.

Q: Scott, a quote coming out of this controversy is that the real story is why
Ambassador Wilson was chosen for this mission. Has the White House asked the CIA
why they've sent somebody who was so vehemently opposed to the administration's
position on Iraq?

MR. McCLELLAN: Not that I'm aware of. We made it clear that we weren't aware
of his trip before we saw it in the media reports, and that still stands.

Q: Scott, since the President takes it so seriously, and since the revelation
was made two-and-a-half months ago, why does the President only now, since
others have called for a Department of Justice inquiry, support that action?

MR. McCLELLAN: Do you recall what I said a couple of months ago, as well?
Because I made it very clear then what I'm making clear now, that there was no
information that has come to our attention to suggest any White House
involvement. So that's where things stood. But I made it very clear that that is
not the way this White House operates, that the President expects people to
adhere to the highest standards of conduct and the highest ethics -- and that he
has made that very clear from day one of this administration.

But I answered this question a couple of months ago. I'm glad you brought
that up, because we're answering some of the same questions today.

Q: Did George Tenet -- did George Tenet bring this matter to the President's
attention prior to the weekend?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not aware that anything was brought to our attention
before information was apparently forwarded to the Department of Justice.

Q: We do know one thing that did happen, and that is that a name was leaked of
a CIA operative. Whoever did it, does the President want some type of Justice
Department investigation into just that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, like I said, one, I've only -- I've seen the media
reports and in one report I saw that the CIA had neither confirmed or denied
that this individual was a covert operative for the CIA.

Q: Why don't they deny it, if it's --

MR. McCLELLAN: But, yes, if something like this happened, a leak of highly
classified information of this nature, the President would want it looked into
and pursued to the fullest extent by the Department of Justice.

Q: Are you saying the President is not even aware whether or not this actually
was a CIA operative who was identified? I mean, you're not even saying that that
is a given in this matter?

MR. McCLELLAN: What I just said is what I've seen in the media reports, was
the CIA has neither confirmed or denied that. I don't know. But --

Q: But that's always their policy. They never confirm.

Q: They never do.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I understand that. And I'm saying, if someone leaked
classified information of that nature, then it should be looked into by the
Department of Justice. Now you need to ask the Department of Justice what their
procedures are and what they would do.

Q: And if the President thinks the Department of Justice should look into it,
what kind of cooperation would the White House provide? In the past, there have
been some concerns about records and that sort of thing --

MR. McCLELLAN: Of course, we always cooperate with the Department of Justice
in matters like this. And you could expect we would in this matter, as well.

Q: Like phone records and that sort of thing?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I'm not aware of any requests that have been made. I
mean, we can go down a whole list, but as far as I know, at this moment no
request has been made. And I've checked on that --

Q: They can't get on the phone with the CIA?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- but of course, of course, we will always cooperate with the
Department of Justice in a matter of this nature.

Q: Okay. Now, in terms of your efforts to -- and in terms of the issue of
whether or not to contact senior administration officials, are you saying it is
inappropriate to contact them on behalf of the President, or that it's too
difficult?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, contact them in the sense of asking whether or not
there is any involvement?

Q: Well, obviously, someone contacted Karl Rove. There was some effort to
knock down a specific allegation here. So I'm wondering, why not contact others?
Were others contacted in the -- among the President's senior advisors?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there was a specific allegation leveled -- I saw it has
now since been backed away from -- about Karl Rove. And that's why I responded
to that question. But I think we could go down the White House directory of
every single staff member and play that game. I'm not going to do that. What
I've made clear is that if anybody has information relating to this, they need
to report it to the Department of Justice, and the Department of Justice should
pursue it to the fullest. It is a serious matter. But I'm not going to go down a
list of every single staffer in the White House, when there's not specific
information that has been brought to my attention to suggest --

Q: No, I understand your argument there. But there are a limited number of
people who would be aware of this information. Is it --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's right, I would think so.

Q: -- is it inappropriate in your view? Or is it just too diffuse, it's too
difficult? I don't understand exactly what the reason is that you wouldn't
expand the effort from Karl Rove to, perhaps, another dozen or so people who
might have been knowledgeable.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we've got important work to do here in Washington, D.C.
for the people of this nation. And the President will continue to focus on the
priorities we are pursuing: the war on terrorism, strengthening the economy.
There are a number of important priorities we are focused on. There are a lot of
anonymous media reports that happen all the time. And it's not our practice to
go and try to chase down anonymous sources every time there's a report in the
media. If there's specific information that comes to our attention, that's
another matter. But there has not been any information beyond what we've seen in
just anonymous media reporting to suggest that there was White House
involvement.

Q: So you're telling --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, are we supposed to go through every anonymous source?

Q: No, no, no. But the President --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, no, no, let's make that clear.

Q: All the President has to do is pick up the phone and call a meeting here
and find out. And if they all say, we didn't do it, he also can call the CIA.
What is the big barrier?

MR. McCLELLAN: Because the Justice Department is the appropriate agency to
look into a matter like this. There's nothing specific to suggest -- there's no
information that's been brought --

Q: I'm not saying that.

MR. McCLELLAN: Hold on, let me finish. There's been no information brought to
our attention to suggest that there was White House involvement, beyond what
we've seen in the media reports. And those are anonymous media reports, at that.

Q: You're challenging anyone who has information about this --

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely.

Q: -- to step forward --

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely.

Q: -- and contact the Department of Justice?

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely. And if there's a senior administration official --
I saw quoted in one article -- that senior administration official, if they have
specific information, they should go provide it to the Department of Justice,
absolutely, you bet, because this is a serious matter.

Q: On pre-war intelligence, Scott, on pre-war intelligence, has the White
House seen this letter from the House Intelligence --

MR. McCLELLAN: Wait, let me finish with -- are we finished with -- let me
finish this topic, and I promise I'll come back to you.

Q: You said that the President knows that Karl Rove was not involved, and you
specifically have spoken to Karl Rove and gotten those assurances. By those
statements, you've implied that the President has not talked to Karl Rove
specifically about this.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I said that --

Q: Is that a correct inference, or did we --

MR. McCLELLAN: I've already answered this question, when Terry asked it
earlier, and I said that it's not my habit to get into conversations the
President has with staff or with advisors. I'm not going to get into those
conversations.

Q: So he has --

MR. McCLELLAN: I've made it clear that it simply is not true, and I'm
speaking on behalf of the White House when I say that.

Q: Scott?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes. Are we on the subject? We're going to stay on the same
topic. I want to stay on the same topic, and then we'll get on to -- go ahead.

Q: I have a different subject.

MR. McCLELLAN: Okay, we'll come back to that.

Q: Can you explain why the President, who ran to say that he would, himself,
restore, honesty and integrity to the Oval Office, that he would do it, is now
saying he has to do nothing proactively on this front and will leave it to the
Justice Department, when it's his own staff who's been accused of committing a
very, very serious federal crime?

MR. McCLELLAN: And I think I've asked and answered that.

Q: No, but why is he not doing anything proactively?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've been asked and answered that question. I had that asked
up here. I mean, I'll go back through it.

Q: You haven't said why -- you haven't said what his thinking is and why he
doesn't --

MR. McCLELLAN: Because there has been no information that's come to our
attention, or been brought to our attention, beyond what we've seen in the media
reports.

Q: -- classified --

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me finish, and then you can ask your question. I've seen
the anonymous media reports. But like I said, there are anonymous media reports
all the time. Are we supposed to go chasing down every single anonymous report?

Q: No, no --

Q: There are serious consequences --

MR. McCLELLAN: If there's -- no, no, there are anonymous reports all the time
making accusations about the White House.

Q: There are not anonymous reports all the time about serious leaks. The White
House in the past has called for investigations based on leaks, based on
anonymous sources up in Congress.

MR. McCLELLAN: And what -- what have I said?

Q: So why not do the same in this case?

MR. McCLELLAN: And what have I said? The President believes that if someone
leaked classified information of this nature, that it should be looked into. The
Department of Justice should look into it, they should pursue it to the fullest
extent possible. So we very much are saying -- we very much are saying what
you're asking.

Yes, sir, Bob -- oh, sorry. I'll go to Kate next.

Q: Has the White House Counsel Office issued any kind of paper to staffers --

MR. McCLELLAN: No --

Q: -- regarding the President's, you know, desire to cooperate with any probe
or anything like that?

MR. McCLELLAN: No. Again, I've said that nothing has been brought to our
attention. There have been no requests made of the White House and nothing has
been brought to --

Q: -- step forward. You said people should step forward --

MR. McCLELLAN: They should.

Q: -- if they have information. Is there going to be anything circulated
telling --

Q: -- could put it in writing --

MR. McCLELLAN: I've made it very clear -- well, there's no specific
information being brought to our attention to suggest White House involvement. I
think I've been through that.

Q: -- then you're not saying you're going to tell people that?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's why I'm saying, because there's no specific
information, or there's no information, period, that has been brought to our
attention beyond what is in the media reports. But if someone has information,
they should report it to the Department of Justice. We've made it very clear
that if the Department of Justice looks into something like this, of course, we
always cooperate with them in that.

Q: Scott, you keep saying: if there was a leak. But Ambassador Joe Wilson has
been all over the place, on ABC this morning, in other media outlets saying,
himself, that his wife was outed, that she was -- he has confirmed it, that she
was a CIA operative and that her identity has been revealed. So if that's the
case, why wouldn't the President be proactive about this in trying to find out
where that leak came from?

MR. McCLELLAN: Okay, so if it's a "senior administration official" we should
go to every single agency? I think that's -- the Department of Justice can do
that, and that's what they're charged with doing. So they will look into it. If
there is specific information relating to the White House, someone is welcome to
bring it to our attention. But I have not seen any information, beyond what is
in the media reports, to suggest White House involvement.

Q: But isn't the President concerned when there is a leak of this magnitude,
that could threaten someone's very life?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think I addressed that earlier. Absolutely, the President
believes that this is a serious matter when you're talking about the leak of
classified information. The leak of classified information, yes, you're
absolutely right, can compromise sources and methods. That's why the President
takes it very seriously, and we've always taken it very seriously. And if it
happened in this case, it's a particularly serious matter and it should be
looked into by the Department of Justice.

But if you have specific questions about where it -- who is looking into it
and what is happening, talk to the Department of Justice.

Q: You're still saying "if" --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, talk to the Department of Justice and they'll get you
more information.

Terry.

Q: Scott --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, we're on ABC right now.

Q: Thank you. In the Enron -- tag-teaming -- in the Enron matter, the White
House Counsel's Office issued a request to all personnel to save their emails
and phone logs and that kind of thing. That was proactive. Has that been done
here? And, if not, why not?

MR. McCLELLAN: There had been some information there that we were pursuing to
find out more about what contacts there had been. Again, there has been no
information brought to our attention, beyond what is in the media reports, to
suggest White House involvement.

Q: So at this point there has been no request from the Chief of Staff's
Office, from the President, for White House personnel to save emails, to save
phone logs, to recall and account meetings and --

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, if the Justice Department made a request of us, of
course we would always cooperate. It is the appropriate place for the Department
of Justice to look into this. I believe we did receive some request previously
on that matter.

Q: Do your words also speak for Vice President Cheney? And can you
categorically say that he was not involved in this?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've made it clear that there's been nothing, absolutely
nothing, brought to our attention to suggest any White House involvement, and
that includes the Vice President's office, as well. When I'm talking about the
White House, I'm talking about the Vice President's office as well.

Ken, did you have a question?

Q: Yes. Your answer to Dick's question about a special prosecutor was to point
to the career prosecutors at Justice who are going to be handling this. But
those career prosecutors ultimately report to political appointees --
ultimately, of course, to the Attorney General. Why is that not precisely the
kind of conflict of interest that the special prosecutor law envisages, and why,
therefore, should there not be a special prosecutor?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we went over this earlier, Ken. And, again, you need
to talk to the Department of Justice. That's assuming certain people may be
involved in something of this matter. I have not seen anything to suggest that
anyone -- suggest who is or who is not involved in looking into this.

Q: The Justice Department is run by the Attorney General. He's a political
appointee.

MR. McCLELLAN: Right.

Q: Ultimately, it's his call as to whether or not there is grounds for a
criminal investigation.

MR. McCLELLAN: And have you asked the Department of Justice if he's involved
in looking into something of this nature?

Q: Are you saying he's refused --

MR. McCLELLAN: I have no idea. I don't know where the Department of Justice
stands and whether or not they're even pursuing this further, if there's a need
to.

Q: Should the political appointees at the Justice Department, in the White
House's view, recuse themselves from dealing with this?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, the Department of Justice, they have a lot of
professionals over there and we believe that they are the appropriate ones to
look into this, and that they can do an independent job of doing so.

Q: Scott, just a couple quick clarifications. Weeks ago, when you were first
asked whether Mr. Rove had the conversation with Robert Novak that produced the
column, you dismissed it as ridiculous. And I wanted just to make sure, at that
time, had you talked to Karl?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've made it very clear, from the beginning, that it is
totally ridiculous. I've known Karl for a long time, and I didn't even need to
go ask Karl, because I know the kind of person that he is, and he is someone
that is committed to the highest standards of conduct.

Q: Have you read any book about him lately?

Q: -- have a subsequent conversation with Mr. Rove in order to say that you
had this conversation --

MR. McCLELLAN: I have spoken with Karl about this matter and I've already
addressed it.

Q: When did you talk to him? Weeks ago, or this weekend?

MR. McCLELLAN: What I said then still applies today, and that's what I've
made clear.

Q: I have one other follow up. Can you say for the record whether Mr. Rove
possessed the information about Mr. Wilson's wife, but merely did not talk to
anybody about it? Do you know whether for a fact he knew --

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know whether or not -- I mean, I'm sure he probably
saw the same media reports everybody else in this room has.

Q: When you talked to Mr. Rove, did you discuss, did you ever have this
information, could you have talked to him?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're going down a lot of different roads here. I've made it
very clear that he was not involved, that there's no truth to the suggestion
that he was.

Q: Well, I'm trying to ask how --

MR. McCLELLAN: And, again, I said I didn't -- it is not something I needed to
ask him, but I like to, like you do, verify things and make sure that it is
completely accurate. But I knew that Karl would not be involved in something
like this.

Q: And that conversation that you had with Karl was this weekend? Or when was
it?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry? No, I've had conversations with him previously. I'm
going to leave it at that.

Q: -- on the record?

Q: Has the President spoken to the Attorney General today, or over the
weekend, on this subject? Or directed any aides to speak to the Attorney
General?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not aware of any contact. And, no, that -- we would not do
that, talk to the -- I'm not aware of any contact the Attorney General has had
with anyone in this administration about that.

Q: What about intelligence letters? Does the White House --

MR. McCLELLAN: Wait, are we through with this subject?

Q: No.

Q: No.

MR. McCLELLAN: Because I'm going to move on. I'm going to go quickly. Paula,
you've already one, so I'm going to go to April, and then we're going to move on
to another subject.

Q: You continue to talk about the severity of this and if anyone has any
information they should go forward to the Justice Department. But can you tell
us, since it's so severe, would someone or a group of persons, lose their job in
the White House --

MR. McCLELLAN: At a minimum.

Q: At a minimum?

MR. McCLELLAN: At a minimum.

Q: Scott, can I ask you something from earlier, it was part of a -- I'm sorry,
were you done, April?

Q: You are also saying that, you know, for your knowledge, including the Vice
President' Office, no one divulged this kind of information. But with this
assuredness, why do you think the husband came out and pointed fingers and said
this?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, why what?

Q: Why do you think the husband came out and pointed fingers saying that this
was actually leaked?

MR. McCLELLAN: I can't speak to why people say certain things. But I did
notice that there was some backtracking from some of the earlier comments today.

Q: Are you doubting that the leak came from the White House directly? I mean,
you seem to have been casting doubt throughout this whole conversation. I mean,
you talked about --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm telling you the facts. The fact is that we don't have any
information beyond what we've seen in the media reports to suggest White House
involvement.

Q: It seems like the White House -- you're sort of operating on an honor
system, almost a do not -- look, don't ask, don't tell system, when it comes to
this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, if there is specific information that you have to bring
to our attention, please do so. But --

Q: That's the core question. You keep on saying, you keep pointing the finger
at us to step forward with information. I mean, you're asking us to come forward
and reveal things, but you haven't asked the White House staff to --

MR. McCLELLAN: You're a reporter and you recognize that there are stories
written all the time, with all sorts of accusations and all sorts of
allegations, a lot of times from anonymous sources. If we spent all our time
going through all those stories and trying to track down information, we
couldn't keep our focus where it needs to be, which is on the people's business.

Q: But this is a different level of story. I mean, you're talking about all
other stories -- maybe the economy, maybe some policy -- but you're talking
about a potential -- almost a potential national security breach, which is a
step above, sort of, the daily story of the day. So wouldn't that -- wouldn't
that inspire somebody in the White House to talk to a staffer and say, hey,
look, this happened, do you know anything about this, do you know anything about
this?

MR. McCLELLAN: The Department of Justice is the appropriate place to look
into this. Where does it stop? I mean, the anonymous source quoted -- was quoted
as a senior administration official. That doesn't say "White House" in and of
itself.

Q: Scott, you, yourself, said there's a limited number of people who could be
involved in this --

MR. McCLELLAN: Paula, I've got to -- I'm going to try to keep moving so we
can get to David's question.

Q: Just to clarify something earlier that came out of a question. Has this
White House, this White House specifically, in the past conducted an internal
investigation into media leaks?

MR. McCLELLAN: Into media leaks?

Q: Yes, has this White House ever looked into media leaks?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'd have to check. If you have a specific one you want me to
check in. There have been some requests of us from others at times that have
been looking into matters. And we've always cooperated, just like we would in
this one, as well.

Q: Right. And just to follow up, in the 70's we had a very similar situation
where a CIA operative was outed. That actually ended up -- resulted in a loss of
life.

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, it's a very serious matter.

Q: At that time, we had FBI, CIA, Interpol, many agencies around the world
looking into it. Why would we not, at this point, want to go to the full extreme
and have as many different eyes looking for this as possible?

MR. McCLELLAN: Make no mistake about it, something like this happened,
someone leaked classified information of this nature, the President wants it
pursued to the fullest extent. And that's what should happen.

Do we have any more on this topic? Yes, go ahead.

Q: How is it that the Justice Department, and I know you -- this has been
asked before, but I didn't get a clear answer -- the Justice Department, headed
by a man that the President, himself, appointed, how can that Department
credibly investigate a claim that could be very embarrassing, could be -- could
result in criminal prosecution for someone in the White House? How can that be
fairly --

MR. McCLELLAN: There are some -- there are some outstanding career employees
at the Department of Justice that do an outstanding job, and they look into
matters like this. And we expect that they would treat this just like they
should and that they would treat this just like any other matter of this nature.

Q: Certainly, the minute the Justice Department came out with something that
exonerated anyone --

MR. McCLELLAN: You can obviously try to suggest that about anything in the
administration that went to the Department of Justice.

Q: I don't see how a Justice Department that's headed by a man --

MR. McCLELLAN: The Department of Justice is charged with independently
looking into matters like this, as well as other law enforcement matters. And
that's fully what we would expect them to do in a matter like this.

Anymore on this topic? No more? One more?

Q: Has the White House seen or been told about the CIA letter?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q: Has the White House seen or been told about the CIA letter to Justice?

MR. McCLELLAN: What may have been sent to the Department of Justice? Not that
I'm aware of. You're talking about "seen it"?

Q: Have you seen it or --

MR. McCLELLAN: I mean, we read the media reports about what has happened.

Q: Yes, I understand that. But I mean outside the media reports. Have you seen
a copy of the letter or been told about it by anybody at the CIA?

MR. McCLELLAN: A copy? No, I've not been told about a specific letter or a
copy of that.

Q: I'm talking about Mr. Gonzales or anybody else?

MR. McCLELLAN: Not that I'm aware of. We've seen the media reports.

Q: Scott, on another letter --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm going to Russ, and then we're going to go to you. We've
got to keep moving.

Q: Even though the independent counsel statute has lapsed, there is a
provision where the Attorney General can appoint a special prosecutor. Why
wouldn't the President support --

MR. McCLELLAN: I've been asked this question earlier and I answered it. So
I'm going to move on. I've already been asked that question and I answered it
earlier. And now --

Q: Scott, the statement you gave about why there shouldn't be a special
prosecutor was almost word for word what the Clinton people said in 1994 about
why there shouldn't be a special prosecutor in Whitewater. Why should it stand
now if it didn't stand then?

MR. McCLELLAN: Ken, I just reject that comparison.

Q: You can reject it, but it is the same issue. Why is --

MR. McCLELLAN: Do you have specific information to suggest White House
involvement?

Q: No, but why --

MR. McCLELLAN: Do you have any information to suggest White House
involvement?

Q: My issue -- the issue is the credibility --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, bring it to my attention if you have information. But
there's no information we have beyond the media reports to suggest White House
involvement.

Q: But Novak --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, but I think the media has obligations, too. If they are
aware of something that has happened, of the leaking of classified information,
like anyone else they should report it to the appropriate authorities. In this
case, it would be the Department of Justice.

And with that, I'm going to move on to a new topic. I know we could go
through this all day. I'm going to David -- David first, then Sarah, then Goyal.

Q: Is the White House aware of the House Intelligence letter to the CIA on
prewar intelligence, and what's the reaction to it? And does the President think
that he was given bad or incomplete information that ultimately led to his
decision to war?

MR. McCLELLAN: One, if you look at the statement put out by the CIA, they
said that the intelligence community stands -- and this is a quote -- "The
intelligence community stands fully behind its findings and judgments as stated
in the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
programs."

And that is the part of the judgment -- that is the judgment of the
intelligence community. We looked at that, as well. But let's go back when we're
talking about IraQ: and look back at everything here. Let's look at what we knew.
We knew, just like the United Nations Security Council and intelligence agencies
across the world and previous administrations, that Saddam Hussein had possessed
and used weapons of mass destruction, that he had used chemical weapons, that he
had a history of doing that. We knew that Saddam Hussein had large, unaccounted
for stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons. We knew that he had -- and
everybody knew -- that he had invaded his neighbors. So this was a very unique
situation.

Saddam Hussein and his regime defied the United Nations over 12 years and
some 17 resolutions -- they were in defiance of the international community.
They went to great lengths to conceal their program. We know that he had -- that
Saddam Hussein's regime had ties to terrorist organizations. We know that it was
a brutal and oppressive regime. We've seen that from the torture chambers and
the mass graves. So we knew all these facts.

Then came September 11th, the attacks of September 11th. September 11th
taught us that we must confront the new, dangerous threats of the 21st century,
that we can no longer wait for threats to gather and come to our shores before
it's too late. The nexus between outlaw regimes with weapons of mass destruction
and terrorist organizations is the most dangerous threat of our times. And we
must confront those threats before it's too late.

Q: Given that 180 members of Congress cited the nuclear threat, as reported to
them by the President of the United States, as a primary reason to support a war
authorization resolution, and the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have
been found to date in Iraq, why shouldn't the American people believe that this
President overstated the predicate for war?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think I answered that with some of what I just went threw.
But Chairman Goss, who is also one of the signatures on this letter, stated that
he believes that what our -- at least sources in his office have stated that he
believes that this was accurate information presented by the intelligence
community. He was certainly -- he was concerned about one area, about the human
intelligence. And you look at the letter and it talks about this is a
preliminary assessment, that they want to get some comment, they're still
looking at this, they're still looking at the findings. So that's where things
--

Q: -- the White House been sent the letter?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's where that stands.

Q: Has the White House been sent the letter?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've seen a copy of it.

Q: You have?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q: But, Scott, you said --

Q: Can I follow on that?

Q: -- you just said a moment ago that: we knew there were large unaccountable
-- unaccounted stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. In 2001, in March
or February, Colin Powell said there weren't, as we learned of two days ago --

MR. McCLELLAN: Secretary Powell went before the United Nations and said,
there were.

Q: No, no, listen to this. No, no, he said, at that point, there weren't. The
DIA produced a classified --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's not what he said.

Q: -- assessment in October 2002 which said: we don't have any hard or
reliable information about stockpiles. And the U.N. inspectors, themselves, said
they had no hard information about stockpiles. So where are you getting your
information from?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I think you're mischaracterizing Secretary Powell's
comments. Secretary Powell went before -- and he said, that I never said that he
was not a threat. He went before --

Q: -- looking for WMD.

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me finish. Secretary Powell went before the United Nations
and presented that very case to the world and made it very clear what was
unaccounted for. Secretary Powell went through an exhaustive process to back up
everything that he said, talking directly with members of the intelligence
community --

Q: -- to what he said in early 2001. You said, before 9/11 we knew there were
accounted stockpiles. He said, there weren't.

MR. McCLELLAN: Before 9/11 -- I'm glad you pointed that out, because
September -- and, no, that is not what he said. September 11th taught us --

Q: He said that in --

MR. McCLELLAN: It was well documented by the United Nations Security Council
that there were undocumented stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.

Q: That's not true. Talk to Ekeus, the Chairman. He has said that that's not
the case, that you are mischaracterizing U.N. reports.

MR. McCLELLAN: We're going to move on. I think I've answered this question. I
think September 11th, again, changed the way we look at threats. I want to make
that point very clear, and that it became even more real after September 11th,
the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and his regime.

Let me make very clear --

Q: (Inaudible.)

MR. McCLELLAN: -- no let me make very clear the results of the action that we
took. America is safer, the world is better, the world is safer because Saddam
Hussein and his brutal regime have been removed from power. Saddam Hussein will
no longer be able to oppress the people of Iraq. He will no longer be able to
carry out the brutality that he did in the past. His regime is gone, it is
removed from power, and it is not coming back. And it's very clear that America
is more secure because of the action that we took.

Q: Can I follow up? When the Secretary of State says, as he did yesterday,
that the administration believes Iran is trying to pursue nuclear weapons and
that there is no legitimate justification for any of its nuclear programs, does
the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in IraQ: and what seems to be the
gulf between pre-war claims and post-war reality, does that hurt the credibility
of the country, in making it --

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I think, one, Dr. Kaye continues to do his job. I think
the CIA, in their statement, put out -- let me go back to this part of their
statement that they put out about the NIE and the letter from the congressional
leaders: "David Kaye has, for only two-and-a-half months, been attempting to
unravel Iraq's WMD programs. His effort, which has only just begun, will be
important in our process of continuing self-evaluation."

There are miles of documents that Dr. Kaye is still going through in his IraQ:
survey group. There are interviews that he is still conducting with Iraqis,
themselves, who are providing more information. So that process needs to
continue. We'll know the truth. He'll pull together the full extent and full
picture of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and weapons of mass
destruction program.

But I, again -- look at the results that we've achieved. Look at the
opportunity that is presented to us in Iraq. The stakes are very high in Iraq.
The world has a stake in seeing a free, sovereign and prosperous Iraq. It's the
central front in the war on terrorism. And foreign terrorists and remnants of
the former regime are desperate, because they know we are making significant
progress. And when we prevail in this front in Iraq, then we will have dealt a
significant blow to the terrorists, and we would have made a significant -- we
will make significant progress in the war on terrorism. And we will see it
through.

Q: I have two questions. An audiotape claims to be from the number two leader
in the al Qaeda, says the U.S. war on terrorism is really a war against Islam.
Any comment from the White House?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President -- first of all, people who carry out attacks in
the name of a religion are not committed to that religion. The President has
made it very clear that Islam is a faith that teaches peace. And the enemies of
peace are those who carry out brutal terrorist attacks in the name of a religion
like that.

Let me keep going. Goyal.

Q: Scott, two quick questions. Just came back from the United Nations. There
were -- the President saw the demonstrations against many countries and
dictators, including demonstrations against the U.S., India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Burma and also China.

Is President so busy in other issues like IraQ: and also -- that he didn't
care or doesn't have time for the (inaudible) of information that are being
committed against the people of minorities in Bangladesh and also people of --
religious persecution in China and also against the people of Burma?

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely not. In fact, we're pursuing all those areas you
just talked about. Human rights abuses cannot be allowed to stand, and we speak
out against them, we pursue action to be taken to reverse that trend, and we
will continue to do so.

Q: The Vice President continues to suggest that there is a direct link between
Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. And the President a few days ago said there
is not any link. So what does the Vice President know that --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think we're saying the same thing -- that there has been
no evidence that's come to our attention to suggest a link. Now, again, it goes
back to what I said before --- 9/11 taught us that we have to confront these
kind of dangerous new threats we face. Saddam Hussein and his regime certainly
had ties to terrorist organizations. That is well documented and not in dispute.
And he publicly supported terrorist organizations.